As the information technology marketplace continues to push computers and networking systems towards ever greater performance, optical networks are being developed to handle the increased speeds and to provide the greater bandwidth desired for moving large amounts of data. Interconnecting the optical fibers and waveguides forming these advanced networks continues to be challenging, however, due to the inherent inefficiencies and the high sensitivity to alignment and fabrication errors found in current optical components. Systems and methods for routing optical signals between the optical fibers or waveguides that are less sensitive to optical component fabrication and placement errors, and which can provide for increased efficiency in routing the optical signal from one communications pathway to another, can be valuable.